Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for the contribution and for raising the significant issue in the House. The government won't be supporting the amendment, and I'll explain why. There's a longstanding practice that the Commonwealth regulates for matters of environmental significance—and they are also based on specific heads of constitutional power—and state and territory governments regulate for matters that have been identified in the amendment that's before the House right now. We're trying to reduce duplication through this legislation, and the states and territories have a long history now of having mature laws on this issue and regulators to manage these.

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